Brandon Enriquez, USM student regent, heads to economics Ph.D. at MIT

There are many talented and intelligent college graduates in the world against whom I must compete. My advantage comes through the support I receive from my school, through how I am pushed by mentors to be innovative and creative. UMBC provides that support.

How do financial aid packages affect retention rates for low-income college students? What would happen if remedial courses stopped after the two-year community college level? These are the kinds of challenging, highly complex higher education policy questions that interest Meyerhoff Scholar Brandon Enriquez, which he’s examined through research at Harvard and MIT, and service to the University System of Maryland as student regent for 2016-17.

As student regent, Enriquez is a voice for over 18,000 students systemwide. On campus, he is president of the UMBC College Democrats, co-president and founder of the UMBC TED Club, a member of the Phi Kappa Phi fraternity, and has served as an Alternative Spring Break trip leader.

In recognition of his leadership and exceptional academic and extracurricular accomplishments, Enriquez was named a finalist for the Marshall and Rhodes scholarships this year. After considering opportunities in doctoral programs at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and the University of Chicago, and he has decided to pursue his Ph.D. in economics with a full fellowship at MIT.